I'm a Wonder
by buttlos
Summary: was "It Starts Off as 'I Think'". rewrite. James didn't know what to do. He was now stuck in Minnesota with no friends, no dream, and even less ambition than he had before, but with one sentence from Carlos Garcia, everything takes a turn for the better.
1. Meet Carlos Garcia

**4/25/11: **okay, so, as you can see, i totally edited this chapter. i reread it not too long ago and was actually pretty embarrassed with how i went about it. it wasn't really thought out nor was it written that well. and since i'm in the process of _finally_ writing the second chapter, i thought it would be a good idea to go back and pretty much rewrite this chapter. it has the same general events in it and i actually kept a lot of the original paragraphs, but i reworded a lot of things, took away unnecessary things, added some more detail; things like that. so, i hope it's a little bit more enjoyable to read now. i should have the second and final chapter up sometime soon. :)

anyway, this _**isn't**_ a slash fic, surprisingly. i mean this to be more of a best friend relationship, but i'm not going to say that you can't view it as being pre-slashy, if that's how you want to view it. honestly, it could go either way, but just know it's not my intention to have them romantically involved with each other.

**disclaimer: **the usual.  
**warning: **this chapter ends kind of ... abruptly, but i kind of think it's better that way instead of trying to drag something out by adding unnecessary details and what not.

* * *

When kids are faced with the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?", almost always the answer will be fireman, or teacher, or astronaut, or something of that nature. It's that generic dream that most kids don't end up pursuing, which is a shame, because they are pretty ambitious dreams. But once in a while, you'll get that kid who decides they want to become famous in some sort of way, which is actually becoming more and more popular with kids these days.

James Diamond was not one of those kids. Not at first.

Growing up, James didn't have a lot of ambition – he wanted to do something simple with his life. At the ripe age of seven, taking over his father's bar seemed like a pretty good idea to him, even though, technically, he didn't know what a bar was. He just knew that his dad had his own business and that he wanted to work together someday.

You don't really need to have a whole lot of smarts to do something like that, which meant no extra schooling or any kind of degree was needed either. James already disliked school enough, he didn't want to have to go and enroll in even _more_ after high school. Besides, he knew that it would be an easy job to get his hands on, considering, he's the son of the owner. It was basically an unspoken agreement between the two already.

That plan was pretty much set in stone for James all throughout elementary school. Yep, he was going to grow up, grow a mustache, buy a nice leather jacket – and multiple bandanas, because, hey, bandanas are cool - and help his dad run the bar. Well, that was the plan until they moved to Minnesota, where taking over daddy's little bar was no longer an option. He wasn't sure _what_ to do anymore. Mr. Diamond had found work at a new bar pretty quickly, but it wasn't _his_ bar, so James knew that "taking it over" was completely out of the question.

What was worse was that James was the new kid in a new town and it was just awful. James has never had to be "the new kid" and, quite frankly, he wasn't really sure how to go about handling it. He'll have to start everything all over again; make new friends, build up a rep, find out where all the coolest spots to hang out are - all the "fun" stuff. It was a lot of work that needed to be done, and James really doesn't like having to exert himself. Why did they have to move to Minnesota? What is even _in_ Minnesota? They were perfectly happy with their lives in New York. None of this would be happening if his mom and dad hadn't decided to move to a "quiet and peaceful city in the midwest". To say that James was bitter with his parents after the move would be an understatement.

Of course, the boy eventually got over it and had reasoned with himself that there wasn't anything he could do about it anymore. It's not like he could just pack up again and move back on his own.

James was too awkward to do anything at school once he started. Most people would say that he was just being shy, but that's not a word that he liked to associate with himself, because he definitely was _not_ a shy person. Being the center of attention always took top priority over anything else, with the exception of looking devilishly handsome. He was just so different. Everything was different. People kept staring at him, but not in the way the people back at his old school did. These stares were condescending, clearly showing that the general population of this town new each other, and this new kid was screwing around with that. He was definitely not use to those kinds of piercing stares and James had decided hat staying in his own little bubble for the time being was his best bet. It gave him time to soak up all his surroundings and assess the types of people that were in his various classes. _Then_ he'd be ready to pick and choose who he wanted to be "friends" with, if they'd even let him.

School was so boring when people weren't constantly at his feet, telling him how great his hair was or what beautiful, white teeth he had. Of course, he was still good looking in Minnesota – it's not like moving can really take that away from someone – he just wasn't "the bomb" like he was at his previous school. Two weeks had gone by, and much to his dismay, his fellow classmates (schoolmates, really) still showed signs of not wanting to accept him. This was going to take a lot longer than he thought.

Little did James know that one Carlos Garcia had other plans regarding his approach. He was the only one how had the courage and decency to try and befriend the new kid. New or not, a friend is a friend and obviously, they were going to have to get used to him sometime if he was going to move on to high school with them.

It was on Wednesday of the third week when Carlos had strolled up to James in the lunchroom, full of confidence.

"Hey new kid," he started, tugging on the back of James' uniform; "you should turn around and talk to me."

James turned around with his brow furrowed. That had definitely caught his attention, and not in a good way. "New kid?" He had a name, and it definitely was not New Kid. He briefly wondered if he could even be considered the new kid anymore. Two and a half weeks had already passed since he started school, so really, he wasn't "new" anymore.

"Dude, I have a name," he quickly retorted, slightly offended.

The smaller boy looked up at him blankly, his brown eyes wide and slightly apologetic. His confidence shrunk down immensely.

"Uh – sorry. I don't really remember names right away. I just know we have a lot of classes together and that you're the new kid."

That explanation seemed logical enough. James was better at remembering faces himself, so he couldn't really be judgmental on that subject. That would just be rude, and this poor boy in front of him looked like he didn't really need anyone to be rude to him. He seemed like the kind of boy to get teased and bullied a lot. Besides, he really shouldn't have been as offended as much as he was. It's not like he was exactly throwing his name out there. The brunette mostly kept to himself as much as he could.

James shrugged as if to say "it's all good" and held out his hand to introduce himself. "I'm James Diamond."

With a grin, Carlos took the outstretched hand into both of his, shaking them wildly. "Carlos Garcia! And I promise I won't forget your name again."

"It's cool, don't worry about it." James had pretty much already forgiven him anyway. How long can you hold a grudge over something as little as forgetting a name? No need to keep going on being upset about it. "So, what made you want to come up to me and talk?"

Thinking about it now, Carlos wasn't really sure why he did. You have to have some sort of reason for wanting to talk to the new kid; it was a rule. Something inside him was just screaming to go over and talk to this new kid, like it was destiny. …or something corny and girly like that. He wouldn't ever actually _say _that out loud to James, but, that's kind of what he was thinking.

They picked up their lunch trays (filled with who knows what. no one should ever trust school lunches.) and made their way to the nearest empty table. Carlos didn't really have too many friends, so he usually sat by himself at some abandoned, dirty table in the dark corners of the lunchroom. Having James with him there was a nice change.

"I'm not really sure," the Latino finally replied with a shrug as he sat down on the crumb filled bench. "You're the new kid and everything and you just seemed bored during classes and in need of a friend." James stared blankly at him. "What? Don't give me that look! I was the new kid once too. I know how that feeling is and it sucks."

"So, it was pity."

"What? No, I just felt bad that you were alone."

"... dude, that's pity."

Pity was such an ugly word to Carlos and he couldn't stand when people used it. The word just has such a negative sound to it. The next thing he knew, he was mocking James in a voice that really didn't resemble his at all. It's not like he did it because he wanted to make the new kid angry; it was just something that he never really grew out of when he was younger. "Dude, that's pity, blah blah blah. My name's James and I have girl hair."

Really, it wasn't pity that made him talk to James, he knew that for sure, but for whatever reason it was, James couldn't care less about the why he was talked to anymore. He was too busy getting offended (again.) by being mocked and throwing whatever was on his tray in the general direction of Carlos' face. "Shut up, it's not girl hair!"

Ultimately, the little exchange led to James tackling Carlos, wrestling around on the dirty floor, and ended with them in the principal's office. Luckily, there wasn't any punishment for a little rough housing. Since James was the "new kid" and Carlos never got in trouble at school (but outside of school was another story. he had two younger siblings, so it was hard not to pick on them. it's just a sibling thing.), they both just got away with a warning.

The best part about everything was that neither of the boys were angry with each other like they thought they'd be. Wrestling like that was actually really fun, in retrospect. Despite it ruining his perfect and _not girly_ hair, James enjoyed himself because he actually had a chance to do guy things with another guy. Back in New York, James was the ladies man and was always friends with more girls than boys, so wrestling with them was completely out of the question. The attention was a nice plus too. He silently hoped that he would have some kind of reputation after that; a new one that blocked out the one he had just for being the new kid.

They both stood awkwardly outside of the principal's office, waiting for the next period to start. Carlos shuffled around, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He never liked silences, especially awkward ones. Something needed to be said between them and he knew that; it was just a matter of _what _to say and who was going to say it. It was obvious that James had something on his mind though, waiting to spew out of his mouth, but whatever it was just sat there waiting, hanging out on the tip of his tongue.

So, Carlos waited with baited breath. Somewhere between the time they exited the office and now, Carlos decided to treat whatever was going on between the two as a game. And to anyone who knew how Carlos worked, he was very determined to win games of any kind. James has to be the first one to talk, and he was determined to stay quiet until that happened.

"So …," James finally started after a few more agonizing minutes of silence, rolling his eyes in Carlos' direction. "We good?"

The Latino stood there, biting his bottom lip and grinning before James stretched his hand out for the second time. On the inside, he was pretty happy that James wasn't mad (and was silently cheering over the fact that he had won the unofficial game and was trying hard not to rub it in james' face). That meant he got a new friend and Mamá will be so proud of her little mijo. Maybe he'll even get her special cookies after he tells her the great news.

"Definitely!" Carlos shrieked back and shook the taller boy's hand with both of his own again. This was too exciting to handle. He can see himself becoming pretty good pals with "the new kid" and this was just the start of a beautiful friendship.

"You wanna come to my place after school?" the taller boy asked on a whim, taking his hand back and giving a friendly smile; the first one Carlos had seen James have. He decided that James looked better with a smile on rather than that weird, brooding look he always seemed to have during classes.

Carlos blinked in confusion at the sudden question, which wasn't really a question as much as it was a suggestion, and stared up at his new friend. This was just too much for him to process so quickly and he just stood there, frozen. The tension between them was starting to build up as the time droned on and, to be honest, James was starting to feel just a little uncomfortable. Not only that, but he was also starting to regret ever suggesting that Carlos come over. Maybe he had jumped the gun, because inviting people who were practically complete strangers over to your house was something you did in elementary school, not middle school. Things were different. But before he had a chance to tell the gaping boy to forget he said anything, Carlos's face broke into a grin as he finally blurted out his answer.

"Yes! That would be awesome!"

Finally, a response, and James let out a sigh of relief before smiling for the second time that day.

"All right, I'll meet you out front when sixth hour is done then," the sandy haired boy said. It was pretty awesome to see how happy he has just made the obviously beaming kid in front of him. Someone would have to wear sunglasses just looking at Carlos in that moment, that's just how bright he was. His sunny disposition could put the sun to shame. But it was odd to James to see the other kid so happy over something like that. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that Carlos had never been invited to someone else's house.

"I've never been in someone else's house before!"

… oh. Well, there's a first time for everything, James supposed. Even though he should feel bad that the Latino has never been to another's house before, he couldn't help but wonder just what was wrong with the kid that made people not want to bring him over.

"I mean, I've been over to my family's houses before, but that's pretty much it," Carlos added as an afterthought.

"Well…that's okay! Because if you're gonna go to someone's house for the first time ever," James started, patting the smaller boy on the shoulder, "it might as well be the coolest house with the coolest kid, right?" Never let it be said that James Diamond doesn't know how to smooth talk.

With the nod James got in return, it was surprising that Carlos' head didn't roll off. It was kind of funny and amusing how he didn't even try to hide his over excitement.

"Sweet – and don't flake out on me," James said putting on a serious, but not too serious face and pointed at Carlos in that threatening way that people tend to do; the gesture that silently said 'don't-do-this-or-else'.

Carlos grinned even wider, if that was possible, and shook his head violently and James was slightly worried that he was going to give himself whiplash. "I won't, I promise!" He then brought his hand up to James face, pinkie finger outstretched. "I pinkie promise, and I never break pinkie promises."

There was something strangely endearing about Carlos, James concluded as he linked their pinkies together. Was it the quirky way that he spoke, or the over-all happy demeanor, or the way his eyes never lost the shine in them, even when he was obviously upset; James wasn't sure. All he knew was that he could see the two of them becoming best friends and fast. Sure, he wasn't exactly in the "cool crowd" like James was previously hoping to gain access in, but hey, a friend is a friend. Despite the fact that they had only just met about thirty minutes ago, it was easy to see that Carlos could definitely use and deserved a person to call his friend.

"But seriously, if you bail on me, I'm going to beat you up tomorrow," James half-joked. Sadly, he had been flaked out on before by the girl he _really_ had a crush on at his old school. All he wanted to do was to go and get ice cream. He waited for hours at the shop and she never showed up. The worst part about the situation was that she didn't give a reason as to why he stood him up and didn't even say sorry the next day. It wasn't a very good feeling, and James would rather not have to experience it again.

"I won't," Carlos repeated, tilting his head slightly and shifting his backpack into a more comfortable position. "Don't worry, James. I'm not like that."

The bell ran soon after their little agreement was settled, marking the passing time before fifth period. "I'll catch you later then, bud." And with that and one last smile, James was off to his next class, high hopes that his new friend would keep his pinkie promise. Something inside him was telling him that it was very easy to trust Carlos, even though they just met, and he had _almost_ no doubt that he would be there. But you honestly never know with these things.


	2. Dreams Only Last for a Night

_okay so hi. i finally have the second and last chapter of this up. i know that not a lot of people have read this, but to those who have, i'm sorry for making you wait so long. i have a bad habit of not finishing anything that i start, but i really liked this idea, so...i just had to finish it haha. but anyway, i know i really rushed the end, but in all honesty, i wasn't really sure how else to go about it, so that's what you get. i'm in the process of writing out another story that's going to be a two or three-shot and i've fallen in love with the idea, and i wanted to hurry up and finish this so i can focus on that._

_but anyway, i apologize for any and all mistakes that i have made. i didn't proof read this before i posted so yeah. :) without further ado, here's the chapter._

* * *

Carlos didn't bail.

The moment James saw the boy barreling towards him with a hockey helmet strapped securely to his head, the brunette couldn't fight the rush relief he felt. A sudden smile accompanied the feeling as the little Latino boy carried closer, an equally happy expression present on the tan face.

"Hey James!" Carlos huffed out, a bit breathless from running. He bent over, holding himself on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath. "And I didn't forget your name, like I promised," he managed between heavy breaths.

"Hi there."

The two stood around the front of the school as James waited for the smaller boy to regulate his breathing. It would be rude of him to just try and carry on a conversation if the other participant can't even contribute. A few minutes passed before Carlos' breath finally caught up with him, letting him stand upright and flash a toothy grin.

"So what's with the helmet?" James asked, nodding towards the black plastic encompassing Carlos' head. "You weren't wearing it earlier."

"Hmm? Oh! That's because it's against the dress code," he mused, surprisingly cheerful on the subject. "They're really strict about the uniforms here." Carlos rolled his eyes before grabbing a fistful of the tie strangling his neck and yanking it loose. "But I took a nasty fall down the stairs when I was little and cracked my head open. Mamí says that I could've died, but they managed to patch me up before anything too serious happened. So now I wear one all the time, just in case!"

James gawked at the story. He honestly wasn't expecting _that_. Really, he thought Carlos was going to say something about not wanting the aliens to have access to his brain or something off the wall, not something awful like falling down the stairs. The story wasn't completely tragic or anything, but by no means was it happy. How Carlos was able to tell it and still have a smile on his face was beyond him.

"Plus I love hockey, so I kind of need it for that," Carlos quickly added in, looking up at James, that grin never leaving his face. "Hey-you wanna see my scar?"

"Uh…sure?"

The smaller boy made quick work of the helmet on his head, tugging it off and tucked it under one of his arms. His raven hair was quickly flattened against his head to show off a bold, white line trailing from his temple to the crown of his head where the hair grew out in swirls. James couldn't help but cringe at the sight and wondered how he didn't see it before. Imaging how much blood must have seeped out of the gash, how many stitches it must've taken to mend him back together, the _pain_; it made him squirm under his skin. James himself had never experienced anything more painful than a shot or a papercut before, so he immediately felt for the poor kid in front of him.

"Wow…" was the only word he could muster as the scar quickly hid behind the hard plastic of the helmet again. That grin never left Carlos' face as he looked back up to his new friend, and James had to admit, it was already starting to grow on him. He smiled back instantly.

"Pretty cool, right? It took, like, twenty-one stitches or something like that to sew me up. I wanted to keep them, but the doctor told me that it's unsanitary."

"Dude, that's not cool! Those could've been, like…some kind of awesome antique items when you get old!"

"I know! That's what I said!"

The two laughed and shared stories as they walked together, James leading the way to his house, which was only a few short blocks away from their school. He was honestly thoroughly amused at the boy walking next to him. Carlos had quite the vault of interesting stories, even at the "ripe young age of fourteen". Everything that was said was dripping with enthusiasm and met with full body gestures and a very animated face, all courtesy of Carlos.

James couldn't help but be just a little bit thankful that they got into that little scuffle in the lunch room just two and a half hours earlier.

They reached the nicer neighborhood after about ten minutes of walking, all the housing looking big and marvelous. All the kids referred to them as the "rich kid neighborhood" because of it.

"You live _here_?" Carlos breathed out, whatever story he was telling at that moment instantly pushed aside. The Latino's steps slowed to an almost complete stop as he gawked at the house. It was pretty decent in size, and had at least two floors to it. If he had to guess, Carlos would say that James' house could easily be double in size of his own. A small pang of jealousy hit him as the two walked up to the front door.

"Uh..yeah. I do," James replied and grinned, obviously amused at how flabbergasted the other boy was. They step inside and are instantly hit with the aroma of something cooking. "I'm home, ma'!" He quickly tugs off his shoes and throws them off to the side before weaving his way through the living room and into the kitchen.

The shyness starts to settle inside of Carlos as he matches James' actions, tentatively following him to the kitchen. He sees James standing relatively close to a woman about the same height as him (he can only assume that the woman is james' mother), picking something out of the pan she's cooking out of. A small smile creeps on the Latino's face as he inches towards the two.

Sensing his presence, James whips his head around and somewhat startles the smaller boy before he's grinning, chewing a mouthful of food. "Mom, this is Carlos," said James, tugging on her sleeve. He unashamedly steals another bite or two from the pan again and holds some of it out for Carlos, who takes it despite being unsure of what it is. That fact aside, it was pretty good. His compliments to the chef.

Mrs. Diamond turns around with the same dazzling smile as her son plastered on her face and Carlos can feel his mouth go dry. She's got tastefully short hair and just enough eye make-up to bring out her sparkly hazel eyes. Not surprisingly, her face resembles James' a lot more than he was expecting, but not in a creepy way. She was different enough to not look like James with a wig and make-up on. Her body wasn't too bad either; practically all legs.

In layman's terms, Mrs. Diamond was _hot_.

"Hi, Carlos," she greets with a voice so smooth and sweet, Carlos goes a little weak in the knees. "It's nice to meet you. Welcome to the Diamond household, honey!"

Carlos was sure that he fell in love right at that moment.

"Um.." James raised an eyebrow, watching Carlos' mouth open and close like a fish out of water. "W-welcome Minnesota, Mrs. Diamond!" he finally stammered out.

James decided not to point out the fact that Carlos completely forgot a word in his sentence because it was funny to him. Definitely something he'll have to poke fun about later on.

"Oh, please, call me Lisa. Mrs. Diamond makes me sound _so old_." She frowned and cocked her head to the side when Carlos started shaking his head wildly. "Why not?"

"Because! My mom always taught me to respect people older than me, and I'm meeting you for the first time so I just-"

"I insist that you call me Lisa, Carlos."

"No. I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because!"

James stood off to the side as he watched his mom and friend go back and forth with each other. It was pretty entertaining to see and it was a good distraction for Mrs. Diamond so he could steal more food out of the pan. He frowned as he scooped up the last of what his mom was cooking, wiping his hand on his pants. The food was good and he was still hungry, but dinner was just a few hours away, so he had to wait. How torturous.

"Dude, just call her Lisa. She's not gonna stop until you do," James said around half-chewed food. "You can't say 'no' to her."

A deep and defeated frown passed on the tan face, muttering a "fine" before crossing his arms over his chest. And he was definitely _not_ pouting. Pouting is for children.

"Okay, well, Carlos and I are gonna go do guy stuff now," James said as he tugged on Carlos' arm and started to lead him away quickly. "Thanks for the food, mom!"

Mrs. Diamond blinked and shot a questioning look in her son's direction. "Food? I didn't give you any…" The sentence trailed off when she looked back down at her pan, noticing that it was completely empty. "James Isaac Diamond, you little snot! You owe me food, mister!"

"Love you!"

* * *

"Your mom is hot," Carlos stated as he dropped himself onto James' bed.

Completely mortified that his friend would even say such words, James shot Carlos a disgusted look over his shoulder. "_Dude!_"

Carlos raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"She's my _mom_, that's what!"

"So? She's still hot, and I'm going to marry her someday," the Latino retorted with a dreamy sigh laced between his words. He leaned back on the bed, now lying on his back, fantasizing behind closed eyelids.

James rolled his eyes as he tossed his backpack onto Carlos' stomach. "She's already married to my dad, genius."

"Who cares? I'll make it happen!" Carlos shot back, pushing the backpack onto the floor with a thud. "That means I'm going to be your step-dad, so you'd better start listening to me now."

"I'll never accept you."

The taller teen made his way to his closet to change into "normal clothes". He changed quickly so Carlos didn't feel awkward about being in the same room as a semi-naked boy for a short amount of time.

"You will eventually," Carlos said with a shrug. "I know you will. You'll love me."

"No, I'll turn into that rebel kid and get my lip pierced and I'll sneak out at night and do a million drugs and blame all of the world's problems on you."

"Well…as long as you don't start wearing make-up, I guess I could learn to deal with that."

James rolled his eyes again, but let a grin spread across his face. "You're ridiculous." He got two pats of Carlos' helmet in return. The boy stalked over to where the other was lying and shrugged his shoulders, unsure of what to say next. "So…you wanna go play some video games or something?"

"Chyeah, I do!" Carlos instantly shot up and off of the bed, a wide smile present on his face. "Do you have any violent games?"

"Uh, _duh_. What other kind of games are there?"

* * *

They were in the basement, otherwise known as "James' game cave". Almost anything one could ever want was down there. In one room was a large T.V. with surround sound. Inside of the entertainment centre, various gaming systems could be seen hooked up to the screen. Off near the back was a small fire place, a pool table, and a stage that could easily fit at least two people on it.

That was the first thing that caught Carlos' eye.

"What's that stage?" he asked, pointing towards the stage as he approached it.

"That? That's a little karaoke section. We brought the machine from Dad's bar when we moved," James explained. "I used to entertain the customers on the weekends."

Carlos whipped his head towards James, a small glint in his eye. Music related things had always been a guilty pleasure of the Latino's. "You sing?"

"Yeah, a little bit, I guess. Everyone always said I was good, so…"

"I want to hear," Carlos deadpanned, that smile never leaving his face. James instantly shook his head. It was one thing to sing in front of strangers, or once in a while, the regular customer, but it was another to do it for one person, let alone a friend. For some reason, it was always more nerve-racking when you have an audience of one. "Oh, come _on_, James!"

After fifteen minutes of protesting, heavy convincing and a good round of puppy dog eyes, James finally agreed to sing one song for Carlos, but one and _only_ one. Walking up onto the stage, he started up the machine and took the microphone in his shaking hand. To say that he was nervous was a bigger understatement than he was expecting. He scrolled through the songs as the screen lit up, trying to find one of the songs that he knew he could sing decently. After much contemplation, he decided on _My Way_ by Frank Sinatra.

James looked past the microphone in front of him to glance at Carlos with nervous eyes. "I hope you don't mind Frank Sinatra," he said as he tried to hide the trembling in his voice.

"I actually love Frank Sinatra," Carlos replied with a soft smile. He was sitting on a backwards chair, resting his arms on the back as he laid his head down in his arms to watch his friend.

Well, that's a good and bad thing, James figured. It's awesome because that means Carlos has good taste in music, but that also meant that he knew how the original song is supposed to sound and will probably be judged even harder than before. If he wasn't nervous before, he definitely was after that statement.

As the music started, James could feel his pulse get impossibly faster. He spent the first minute or so of the song avoiding Carlos' pokerface, looking everywhere but in his direction. But slowly, as the song went on and got more intense, the heavy anxious feeling that filled his body melted away. Eventually, James was completely lost in the music and honestly forgot that Carlos was even in the room with him.

"_Yes, it was my _way." The final notes of the song rang out, James' voice lowering significantly before quickly putting the machine away. Carefully, he made his way over to where Carlos was sitting, taking slow and deliberate steps all while nervously picking at his nail beds. Carlos' face hadn't changed from the blank look he had when the song started and it made the taller boy ten different kinds of fidgety. He disliked, more than anything, not being able to identify someone's emotions, and all he really wanted to do was to tell his friend to just come out and say that he did a terrible job and should never open his mouth ever again.

But when a grin broke out onto Carlos' face as he leaped up from the chair, all of the insecurities that bothered him washed away.

"Dude, that was so good!" Carlos was jumping up and down where he stood in front of James, latching his hands firmly onto the taller boy's arms, effectively shaking him.

"You think so?" James didn't even try to hide the grin on his face.

"Chyeah! I think you could get famous with a voice like that!"

He's not quite sure what happened, but something inside James had clicked into place the moment those words left Carlos' mouth. It wasn't the first time that someone has told him something like that, but it was different now. This was _Carlos_ saying it, his first friend in Minnesota. All those other people, they were just that; people. They had no significance and more than likely, James would never see them again, so as far as he was concerned, they were just saying those nice things just to say them.

"You should be a popstar."

James' smile somehow grew even wider, stretching from ear to ear, possibly further. The more he thought about it and imagined himself up on stage, thousands, possibly millions of people chanting _his_ name and singing along to _his_ music, the more he wanted it to happen. Thanks to Carlos, that ambition (or what little he had of it) that he thought he left in New York came back tenfold. James Diamond was going to be a world famous popstar, and that was that.

"Yeah," James said, smirking down at his friend. "I'm going to be famous."


End file.
